Robin Lopez And Jerami Grant Scrapped After Kris Dunn Pushed Russell Westbrook

The Bulls and Thunder are on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to the standings, as Chicago is currently tied for 13th in the East while Oklahoma City is third in the West, with legitimate hopes of a deep run in the playoffs.

When teams that far apart meet on the floor, it’s typically uneventful and it appeared everything was going according to the script through nearly three quarters in Oklahoma City on Monday night. The Thunder held an 82-61 advantage late in the third when some shenanigans broke out.

Kris Dunn took offense to something Russell Westbrook did and gave him a nice two-handed shove. That prompted Jerami Grant to step in to defend his star guard, which is when Robin Lopez came in and escalated the situation further by pushing Grant. Lopez ended up getting tossed by Grant into the poor folks courtside as a certified kerfuffle broke out.

Lopez was extremely hot, pointing at Grant until Steven Adams rolled up and grabbed his arm to calm things down. No one was ejected for their roles in the brouhaha, but techs were handed out and, eventually, Lopez would earn himself an early exit after he dropped the ball on Grant later in the quarter.

The whole thing seems like some frustration on the part of the Bulls, who are in the midst of a season of disarray. From a miserable start to the year, injury issues, Fred Hoiberg being fired, and the most recent near mutiny against Jim Boylen, nothing’s going quite right in the Windy City. Against the Thunder, those frustrations seemed to boil over in the form of this little scuffle.